Following a challenging but robust 2015, the UK experienced a turbulent start to 2016. Eyes have been firmly focused on a range of market indicators: from fragile economic growth in China and ongoing weakness in parts of Europe, to oil price and equity market volatility. Added to the ramifications of geopolitical events, many financial institutions have suggested that conditions have echoed the European sovereign debt crisis of 2011 – or possibly even those of the early days of the global financial crisis.
Just as the global markets show signs of a meaningful post-crisis recovery, major global events set things back again. But against a backdrop of tensions in Russia, a slowdown in China, the Syrian refugee crisis in Europe and the oil price hitting a historic low, a number of companies and banks have managed to churn out stellar deals. The Banker recognises them in 2016’s Deals of the Year awards.